Somalia: Clashes expose widening rift between Mogadishu and federal states
Civilians gather as smoke billows from a shop hit by artillery following clashes between Somalia's federal troops and armed opposition groups, in Baidoa, Somalia, August 17, 2026.
Somalia's long-running political crisis entered a new phase this week as armed clashes in Southwest State highlighted growing tensions between Mogadishu and regional administrations opposed to President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's electoral and constitutional agenda.
On August 17, armed militias devoted to Abdiaziz Mohamed Laftagareen, the former president of Somalia’s Southwest state, launched an attack on Baidoa, the state’s capital.
